swift gets raided by FBI

kwexpress

Veteran Expediter
FBI Raids Memphis Trucking Company



FAST FACTS:

FBI agents serving warrants at Swift Transportation
TN Department of Safety says it is working with FBI
News Channel 3 is on the scene
(Memphis 2/25/2008) FBI agents have served search warrants at a Memphis based trucking company.

News Channel 3's Mike Matthews is at Swift Transportation Commercial Driving School on Brooks Road.

The FBI has confirmed it has agents there but will not say anything more.

The Tennessee Department of Safety sent a release saying it is, "...cooperating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in an on-going investigation of Swift Transportation in Memphis. This action comes after the FBI executed search warrants today at Swift Transportation Commercial Driving School as part of the on-going investigation."

TDOS has a part-time driver license center at the Swift location which has been closed during the investigation.

TDOS says, "The Department of Safety has fully cooperated with the FBI in their on-going investigation and will continue to coordinate closely with federal authorities as the investigation continues. In addition to the Memphis Division of the FBI and the Tennessee Highway Patrol Criminal Investigation Division (CID), other agencies involved in the investigation include the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General (DOT OIG), the United States Secret Service (USSS), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), The United States Marshall Service (USMS) and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Pending the investigation, this is all the Department of Safety can release at this time."
 

aripen

Seasoned Expediter
FBI executes search warrants at Memphis trucking company


MEMPHIS (WMC-TV) - FBI agents executed search warrants Monday at the office of Swift Transportation in Memphis and Swift's training grounds near Millington Regional Jetport, officials said.

A statement from the Tennessee Department of Safety said warrants were part of an ongoing investigation being conducted by the FBI.

The issuance of commercial driver licenses at Swift's Memphis and Millington locations was suspended, and would remain that way through the course of the investigation, the statement said.

Employees at the scene Monday said nearly 20 state and federal investigators were inside one of Swift's Memphis buildings. Workers said investigators appeared to be trying to determine whether or not the company illegally gave out commercial driver licenses to individuals who should not have received them.

At the company's Millington office, agents could be seen carrying out boxes of files and putting them into a truck. Meanwhile, Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers blocked access to the office.

Swift Transportation spokesperson Dave Berry said his company was fully cooperating with law enforcement. "We have been advised by law enforcement that we are not the actual target of the investigation," he said.

Swift Transportation's operation in Memphis dispatches more than 500 trucks per day, transporting mainly for UPS.

Berry said the investigation would have no impact on Swift's daily operations.

Agencies involved with the investigation include the Memphis Division of the FBI, the Tennessee Highway Patrol, U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, the United States Secret Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, The United States Marshall Service, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

No one was taken into custody during Monday's raid.
 

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
Apparently there are some irregularities with the Tennessee Department Of Safety's CDL License Center and the way they have been issuing CDL's. The TDOS office there is a part-time office, operating 3 days a week. The US Attorney's office has stated that Swift is not the target of the investigation. When you've got agencies like ATF, ICE and the US Marshall Service, it's not too hard to speculate what's been happening there.
 

davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
Additional information is that they were charging $3900 for driving training if you didn't complete the course in 11 days.
Need 50 drivers?..........bring in 100 and make a nice profit.
Unless the school is tied to a accredited college, it always seems like there is some kind of scam.
Just another sign of it. Maybe those donuts can be passed out to the group that got screwed.
 

tec1959

Expert Expediter
I was with M.S.Carriers in 2001 until they were bought out by Swift,I was a driver trainer and made great money and M.S.Carriers was really a great company and a good school,but soon as Swift bought them out i left because of to many changes and the things that they wanted to do was not safe and they did not care about any thing but the numbers of students being rushed thru the school. And the students were not even no where near being ready to go with a trainer much less being on the road...
 

tec1959

Expert Expediter
Hello Moot well I'm not sure he was In charge of the Memphis terminal last I heard,I really hated M.S. sold to Swift but Mike Had to because of his divorce...
 

Jack_Berry

Moderator Emeritus
studets rushed thru training?? was the backing part of the training excluded?? just wondering after watching a few.
 

arkjarhead

Veteran Expediter
I heard a rumor once that the guy that owned MS Carriers wife was the daughter of Fred Smith or who ever it was that owned FedEx, and for whatever reason when they got divorced he sold to Swift to keep his old lady from getting the company. Any truth to that or just a truckstop rumor? It didn't begin with you ain't gonna belive this sh!t so I thought it might have some credibilty.
 

ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
There is something that does not quite ring true in Swift's statement that Swift is not the target of the investigation, and that Swift operations will not be disrupted.

It strikes me as strange that reporters are taking the Swift statements in their press release at face value, instead of confirming them with other sources. As I read the story, the only people that say Swift is not the target of the investigation is the Swift PR people. In fact, Swift operations have been disrupted. And, sadly, unsuspecting trainees have been caught in the middle. See this news story.

Law enforcement officials are hauling boxes of records out of buildings owned and operated by Swift. It is not just a TN state operated CDL licensing facility that has suspended operations. The Swift CDL schools have done so too.

If Swift is not the target of the investigation, who is? If suspending CDL training at two locations is not a business disruption, what is?

CB gossip about this is running overtime as drivers speculate about how this may play out. In the absence of factual information, I do not want to speculate. But I do wonder why the media hounds have not picked up the scent. The actions taking place on the ground simply do not match the words in Swift's news releases.
 
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yeahaw

Guest
anyone know anything about this

My husband is there right now.The go through three weeks and during those three weeks they have class room time for a week then they get their premit and the next two weeks they train on the range which is where they learn to drive a truck then at the end they get to take their CDL but my husband now has to go to the DNV personally to take the tests to get this premit and his CDL.Its crap but I guess he just got there in a bad time is all he's been there since last month.And Swift to advoid this crap has shipped the ppl to Phoniz AZ.It is very crazy around there now.There are ONLY 11 stundents left my husband being one of them.Even he wants to bail because of it all.I know why now they got into trouble.Its because they use the hotel they house the students in as the address to pass threw the cracks so everyone can get their CDL but now they cant.
 
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